Yikes sorry Robert, my apologies. I was quite confused. I had posted then
received a note saying I had posted it in the wrong place and that it should be
at topic .25, which then I did except I made a mistake of posting it at .21 by
clicking on the final cut pro link instead and then received a comment saying it
should be in .25 :) so you see I thought I was supposed to re-post it. You
probably enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed re-posting it.

Hi -- I just found D-word today and joined instantly. I'm suddenly
plunged into making my first documentary film. I come from radio
broadcasting where i was trying to make a radio doc on the same
topic but didn't find the broadcast home there I'd hoped for. then
some doc-making friends said i should try to make it as a film doc,
instead.

It's all very scary but exciting too as I have come to this project
through the subject, rather than through film-making, if you know
what I mean. Looking forward to meeting you all and sharing ideas
and concerns and choices. It's mind-boggling isn't it?

Thanks for the welcome. My interest is in the singers of a certain
community, and their sngs which are centuries-old, handed down
orally. When these guys are gone, much of the repertoire will be
lost. In addition they are great guys, real characters, and they live
in a beautful place. So.. i need to move quickly. Which is why I am
jumping in without really knowing anything about film.

As I said i work in radio and I've made short radio Docs so i am
pretending to myself that it can be planned in much the same way. But
theer are so many other layers to deal with. i can gather audio tape
entirely by myself, edit and mix it on my computer. This is a whole
other thing.

And the decisions -- narration or no nrration, should I be in it,
should there be a 'guide', should it be in english or in another
language with subtitles, what about the soundtrack, is Digital video
OK, can I start shooting myself...
aaaaaaaaaaugh!

Looking forward to getting into conversations with people about their
approaches, and sharing my experiences as I go along. Might be useful
to others too, I guess.

IM A NEW MEMBER. I COME FROM THE PRINT SIDE.
PHOTOJOURNALISM. I WAS A PHOTOGRAPHER IN THE US
ARMY AND THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD. COVERED THE
VIETNAHM WAR/PANAMA AND MANY, MANY OTHERS, BEEN TO
AREA 51. I WAS BORN IN FRANCE AND BEING A MALE I HAD
THE PRIVILEGE (HA-HA) OF BEING DRAFTED IN BOTH
ARMIES. SO I AM BI-LINGUAL AND BI-CULTURAL. THIS HELPS
IN SEEING A STORY FROM DIFFERENTPERSPECTIVES. I AM
CURRENTLY WORKING ON A DOCUMENTARY ON WOMEN
OUT OF PRISON AND THEIR STRUGGLE TO STAY OUT. I
WORKED AT THE DENVER COLORADO STATE WOMEN'S
PRISON FOR FOUR YEARS. I KNOW THESE WOMEN SO THEY
CAN'T LIE TO ME. JUST A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THIS
SUBJECT. SOME OF THESE WOMEN HAVE A LIFE STORY TO
MAKE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE. GO AHEAD ASK
ME....SINCERELY ALAIN RIGAUD MY E-MAIL ISrigkialain1@aol.com

BEN KEMPAS. I TYPE IN CAPITALS FOR TWO REASONS.
FIRST I DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT TO CAPITALIZE.
I NOTICED THAT SOME WORDS THAT ARE CAPITALIZED IN
ENGLISH ARE NOT IN FRENCH. same as spelling some
french words that are used in the english language example
colour/color. number two it speeds up my typing. but good point.
I never realized that. also in script writing they want you to
capitalize for easier reading of parts. shouting? perhaps but you
haven't lived till you are in charge of 75 women inmates who are
all PMSing at the same time. I remember some women warning
me ahead of time. this way i could change my tactics. it was a
great job I learned a lot about human behavior. its just hard for
me to believe that lower case is easier to read than caps? ever
try reading a script in lower case? oh well this is good dialog.
this is how you learn diferent points of view and cultures. by
cultures I mean in diferent ocupations. I am curently working on
a comedy series "HOBO BOB FOR PRESIDENT" it will run
paralel to the other presidential race. all actors are homeless
people. but I will use this idea in one of the episodes. alain

There is a reason lower case is easier to read as any printer will
tell you. Cover up the ascenders and descenders (the parts of the
type and are above an e or m in the line) and it's still very
readable. Upper case is only easier on the eye because it's larger
but less readable because your eye must identify each letter to read
it as a word. With lower case, many words become familar blocks that
are grasped more quickly.

Scripts use UPPER case because the format was designed back in the
days when typewriters were used. No bold, italics, bad underlining.
So the choices to separate dialogue from description were limited.
Unaware of any script format (that's in correct format) that uses
upper case for dialogue. Descriptions are often written in upper
case but then you don't have to read those - dialogue must be read
by the talent - hence it's in lower case with initial caps.

Thank's all of you for the comments. it was very helpful no one
else has pinted that out to me. anyway does anybody know of
anyone else who is doing a project like mine. I would like to
trade notes. I am having a very hard time with my former
employer in co-operating with me. Im thinking of having
someone else do the inquires for me. what do you think ? any
suggestions?

Hello people!
I am new too.
I was out and about and i found this place. I am a film student, but
i love documentary. I am currently directing a 3rd year class
project. Its an ethnographic expository type of doco about being
young and black in a predominantly white place (etc. you know how
that one goes).

I would like to tell everybody that my crew sucks, I am running out
of time, my non-actor actor doesnt 'act', my editor dumped us, i
have half a script and NO BUDGET. Pheww!

And I would like to share with you that... I have two essays due
about doco ethics - poor Nanook of the north!

Anyone out there willing to help me before i quit school, buy a
camera and moove to Africa?

I hear you. I really hear you... please pay me to do that for the
rest of my life. Just to cover my 4 basics, - roof, food, wine and
tapes!
I wont even have to edit! it would be MY STUFF! awwwww... UTOPIA.

My name's Viktor but I use my middle name (Zion) in forum. But i'm
happy with people addressing me by either one - it happens in my Real
Life all the time.

I live in New Zealand, in the South Pacific. I'm new to documentary
as I specialise mainly in broadcast television news and current
affairs.

I currently work for a large TV broadcaster, helping produce and
direct a weekly 59 minute live multi-cam studio current
affairs/magazine programme. (Boy that was a long description!!). The
programme focuses on stories from the Maori community of New Zealand.

What's Maori? Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. I'm
Maori myself and within the company I work for we have our own Maori
programmes production unit.

I've always liked documentaries, ever since I saw Trinh Minh Ha's
work. I'm planning to begin developing proposals for documentaries
shortly, to be made via the department I work for. I suppose it's a
little like a workshop/lab here because it affords us the opportunity
to experiment, make mistakes, work through concepts etc.

Still though, lots more to learn, especially from other parts of the
world. Looking forward to reading people's thoughts here.